The Sydney Uni mafia speaks .................................

[fatprop]

Give Halangahu more time - Mumm

Rupert Guinness in Auckland | March 26, 2009

DANIEL HALANGAHU deserves more than one shot as the Waratahs starting five-eighth - and not just tomorrow's Super 14 clash against the Blues, teammate Dean Mumm says.

Mumm, who has played with Halangahu for "about 10 years" - from their days at The King's School - is adamant the pivot has the head for big matches like tomorrow's at Eden Park.

"At uni, he [won] three man-of-the-match performances in the last three grand finals," said the NSW forward, who will move to second row from No.6, allowing Ben Mowen to start at blindside flanker. "That's a fairly good indicator he can perform when it counts. He needs a bit of faith shown in him and he needs the opportunity to have a go over a couple of weeks. That's the one thing he hasn't had."

Waratahs coach Chris Hickey yesterday made it clear Halangahu's promotion for Kurtley Beale, who has been dropped to the bench, was on merit and his tactical suitability to the game NSW plan.

He said it was not due to Beale falling ill, as he did on Tuesday and missed yesterday's flight to Auckland. Beale is expected to join the Waratahs today and still take up his position on the bench.

"Daniel played really well for us when he came on [for the last 20 minutes] against the Crusaders [last Saturday]," Hickey said. "It's always a selection we were looking at. Going into this particular game, we felt Daniel's strengths suited the game plan we wanted to utilise."

Beale's absence at the airport yesterday was still a surprise. Hickey said Beale had been ill for several days, but he appeared to run well - albeit with the reserves - on Tuesday. Halangahu ran with the the senior side.

"Kurtley has been a little bit crook, probably for the last four or five days," Hickey said. "It's really come down heavily on him. We have had a bit of a virus that has gone through four or five of the team." Hickey said Beale would be "reassessed by some doctors" and that "if he comes through OK" he should be able to fly to Auckland today.

With the Waratahs having lost their past two games, following four successive wins, and the Blues reeling from a 63-34 hiding by the Chiefs in Hamilton last week, the game is vital for both sides. The Waratahs have never beaten the Blues in Auckland and if they lose again tomorrow they could fall from third place and out of the top four. While a win for the Blues would put them into the top four.

Meanwhile, Phil Waugh is over a calf injury and will play.

 

[Scarfman]

10. Hangers
12. Carter

Fuck me.

 

[naza]

Big ask for Halangahu, with very little game time under his belt, to come in and run the show in round bloody 7. There'll be some rust there but he will still be approximately 578 billion times better than Beale.

 

[Pfitzy]

10. Hangers
12. Carter

Fuck me.

I don't think Carter will want sloppy seconds so they'll have to put you on the spit.

 

[Ash]

Fuck me.

No thanks.

Heard a rumour that there was pressure to continually play Beale for marketing reasons as he has a higher profile.

I chuckle every time someone mentions the Uni 10 / 12 combo. Carter was injured for the club season last year and has been close to a walking injury other years, and Hangers has spent most of the last two years at 12 and 15.

However, I am not sure if the Hangers/Carter is the most average NSW 10/12 combo ever, as there's been some pretty average ones. Including the one from last week: Beale/Carter.

 

[Gagger]

Is this like a 'no name' brand of rugby?

 

[cyclopath]

Does look a bit of a nothing combo, but what the hell do we have to lose? it has not worked to this point. My concern (as it has been all along, and nothing Naza has said has changed that) is that the game plan being implemented is a big part of the problem. Sure, the players have developed bad habits from past instruction and may be struggling to adapt to a different style, but I seriously cannot see any evidence that Hickey wants them to play any way but the crap way they have been. Slide across field, inside ball to crash runner, do it again, go back 10m, try it again then turn it over or do a daft kick. If they were being trained to move it wider with flat, fast ball (no, not all the time before someone bangs on about Spin it Wide Brigades again : )I can't see why they couldn't get better at it. There is little evidence they have even tried it.

 

[Moses]

Off their website the last listing of a team was
1st Grade
1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa 9. Nathan Sievert
2. Nathan Charles 10. Daniel Halangahu
3. Laurence Weeks 11. Edward Jenkins
4. Ben McCalman 12. Daniel Halangahu
5. David McDuling 13. Lachlan Mitchell
6. Patrick McCutcheon 14. Lachlan Rosengreen
7. Jonathon Jenkins 15. Jacob Taylor
8. Tim Davidson

Now there's a uni 10/12 combination

 

[naza]

Sure, the players have developed bad habits from past instruction and may be struggling to adapt to a different style

Why did Ewen McKenzie implement that style ? Its my contention that its because the backs are still on their training wheels. Turner can't catch. Beale can't pass. They cannot execute the basics. I reckon Gene Fairbanks, 5th choice inside centre with the Brumbies would walk into the starting Tahs side.

The other plausible alternative is just that the backs have bad chemistry. Just throwing a few talented footballers together doesn't mean they'll click.

 

[Biffo]

Sure, the players have developed bad habits from past instruction and may be struggling to adapt to a different style

Why did Ewen McKenzie implement that style ? Its my contention that its because the backs are still on their training wheels. Turner can't catch. Beale can't pass. They cannot execute the basics. I reckon Gene Fairbanks, 5th choice inside centre with the Brumbies would walk into the starting Tahs side.

The other plausible alternative is just that the backs have bad chemistry. Just throwing a few talented footballers together doesn't mean they'll click.

Smack on the button. How many real 12s are there in Australia, let alone NSW?

 

[fatprop]

or Scott Daruda who can't get a run at the Force, actually I would love to have Daruda at 2/5 for the Tahs.

 

[cyclopath]

Sure, the players have developed bad habits from past instruction and may be struggling to adapt to a different style

Why did Ewen McKenzie implement that style ? Its my contention that its because the backs are still on their training wheels. Turner can't catch. Beale can't pass. They cannot execute the basics. I reckon Gene Fairbanks, 5th choice inside centre with the Brumbies would walk into the starting Tahs side.

The other plausible alternative is just that the backs have bad chemistry. Just throwing a few talented footballers together doesn't mean they'll click.

'Cos he's a prop. Seriously, I agree the backs are deficient in skills. Executing the basics starts at training, and I doubt they are doing it at training, rather running endless drills with crash ball - ruck - crash ball - ruck etc... Hence on the field they seem to be "on their training wheels" and afraid and unable to do anything different. I would love someone in the know to convince me otherwise. Fark me, if schoolboys can catch and pass, why can't these guys learn it better?
They do have bad chemistry, Naz, and you are right they won't automatically click, and it is not helped by the current approach.

 

[Scarfman]

10. Hangers
12. Carter

Fuck me.

I don't think Carter will want sloppy seconds so they'll have to put you on the spit.

Is that: "fuck me sideways"?

 

[mark_s]

Sure, the players have developed bad habits from past instruction and may be struggling to adapt to a different style

Why did Ewen McKenzie implement that style ?

Possibly because it got him to 2 S14 finals.

 

[fatprop]

:nta:

Hangers is the new Larkham

:lmao:

Halangahu eager to follow Larkham's lead

Rupert Guinness in Auckland | March 27, 2009

WARATAHS five-eighth Daniel Halangahu has been enthralled by the skills of former Wallabies playmaker Stephen Larkham since his formative years playing under him at the Brumbies.

And while Halangahu would never dare claim he could be the "next Larkham" or has come anywhere near the level of the 102-Test great's game - he believes they share at least one important asset.

That, according to Halangahu, is Larkham's calm demeanour off the field. Any other similarities, the 25-year-old adds, he has simply tried to emulate since leaving The King's School at the end of 2002 and joining the Brumbies Academy as a player for two years.

Just how much of Larkham's game has rubbed off on Halangahu, who joined the Waratahs in 2005, should be revealed in tonight's game against the Blues at Eden Park.

At Kurtley Beale's expense, Halangahu has been promoted to start at five-eighth and will partner his Sydney University teammate, Tom Carter, as NSW's 10-12 combination. And after yesterday's captain's run, he reflected on the impact Larkham had had on him.

"There's a lot to pick up from a guy like Steve. He can do it all. The way he runs a game ? he does have it all," Halangahu said. "But he is also a quiet personality. He is a bit similar to myself [in that]. He's quiet, not a very dominant personality, but once he steps across that white line, he owns the team.

"That is one thing I tried to learn from him. There were a lot of things I tried to learn from him, but whether you get them or not is a different story."

Tonight is the opportunity Halangahu has longed for, after having earned just one Super 14 cap last season due to an ankle injury. This year he has accumulated only 43 minutes of game time - the Hurricanes (0 minutes), Chiefs (3), Highlanders (6), Reds (0), Brumbies (14) and Crusaders (20).

"I am just happy to finally get a run," he said. "It's been a while. There's been a couple [of games] I haven't got on. That's always tough. I just didn't fit the flow of those games.

"It is always hard not getting on. The main thing is keeping fit. You have to do a bit of extra work in the days after the game to make sure if you do get the extra time you'll be right.

"Hopefully, I've done enough work and can get through the full 80 [minutes]."

What is almost certain is that Halangahu won't be overawed by the opportunity. "Most people will tell you I am not a very nervous person. On the bench the last few weeks, I have been getting into Chris Webb, our manager - a few jibes," he said.

"You try not to take it too seriously. You can't take yourself seriously, and if you take football too seriously that's when you do get nervous. I try and stay pretty relaxed. It might be a little bit different running on [tonight] but I will try and stay pretty relaxed."

Unlike most observers, Halangahu plays down the differences in his game to that of Beale, who last night joined the Waratahs in Auckland after recovering from tonsillitis.

"Kurtley is a great individual, and he is always going to have that attacking spark, which some people say gives him the difference over me," Halangahu said. "If I can underplay my hand a little, we have plenty of strike weapons in the back line. If we can allow them to get the ball in their hands - releasing guys like Lote [Tuqiri], Timana [Tahu], Robbie Horne and Lachie Turner - and get these guys some space - that will be positive for the team. Saying that, it's not Kurtley's fault that we're not doing that.

"It is not about what I do differently to Kurtley. It is about me doing what I do. That's all I'll be doing, directing the team around and getting the ball in the hands of the right people."

Meanwhile, Waratahs captain Phil Waugh believes his side can take motivation from local celebrations for Blues captain and hooker Keven Mealamu playing his 100th Super game.

"It's important that whilst it is memorable for him, it's memorable for all the wrong reasons, hopefully," Waugh said.

 

[cyclopath]

All very amusing FP, except your own quoted excerpt states he doesn't in any way consider himself so, he tried to pick up as much from him as possible (who wouldn't) and he would like to try to emulate his style of running a back line and a game.
Sounds like sensible and humble talk.
Actually the piece seems pretty balanced.
A pox on such writing!

 

[Scarfman]

Yeah, another case of headline fever.

I think I should go on record before this game as saying that I think Hangers has about as much talent as any other club 5/8. Both SNK and Beale completely outplayed him in the ARC. He's got about 2 moves: the dish-out and the dummy. I would put Lucas and Kelly ahead of Hangers on my list of 10s.

Happy to be proved wrong, as usual, for the sake of the Tahs.

 

[Ash]

Yeah, another case of headline fever.

I think I should go on record before this game as saying that I think Hangers has about as much talent as any other club 5/8. Both SNK and Beale completely outplayed him in the ARC. He's got about 2 moves: the dish-out and the dummy. I would put Lucas and Kelly ahead of Hangers on my list of 10s.

Happy to be proved wrong, as usual, for the sake of the Tahs.

Of course, don't forget that Sydney Uni started Kelly at 5/8 and used Halangahu at 12 and 15. If Halangahu was such a good 5/8 he would've been starting there for Uni, no matter what.

 

[Scarfman]

Despite having an even more unco style that Kurtley, at least his kick % is a bit higher.

 

[Scarfman]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I was wrong about Hangers.

Didn't set the world on fire (I can't believe there are people left in the world who fall for his dummy), but played smart football for 80mins. Full credit.